ICOPER Deliverable D-5.2 - ISURE: Guideline for the integration of instructional models with open educational content in IMS Learning Design

The IMS Learning Design (IMS-LD) specification expresses a standardized modeling language for representing learning designs as a description of teaching and learning processes. The learning designs are created using IMS-LD editors, and executed by IMS-LD players. As IMS-LD has evolved in the last years to an important specification for instructional models within the technology-enhanced learning area, it is mainly addressing educational experts familiar with learning design. Hence, a more practical guideline for educators who are not already IMS-LD experts is still missing in the literature. Thus, the main objective of this ISURE (ICOPER Suitability Report for Better Practice) is to provide on the basis of bestpractice experiences and recommended tools a step-by-step process model for the use of IMSLD. This process model covers the following four phases: · Phase 1: Specification of the contextual requirements of a course, · Phase 2: Design of a course by use of adequate IMS-LD editors, · Phase 3: Delivery of a course by means of corresponding IMS-LD players, and · Phase 4: Reuse of a course with the aid of an appropriate IMS-LD editor. For each of the four phases, educators get instructions about what steps to conduct to design an instructional model, deliver it to end users and reuse it for further courses. This starts for instance with specifying the target audience or defining the mode of learning delivery (either as blended learning, pure presence learning or social learning application). This covers steps like selecting the standardization format of open education content (such as SCORM or IMS Common Cartridge compliant content) or like the visualization type of the learning logic (table-based vs. graphical) within a Unit of Learning. This ends finally with questions how to specify so-called learning outcome profiles within IMS-LD models in order to describe the learning objectives achieved within a course. All these questions are being answered in this deliverable. This is done based on a recommended set of tools for learning design and delivery. The tools selected shall hereby be seen as best-practice recommendations and samples representing a specific type of tools. There are many tools and technologies existing, but not every tool fulfills educators’ requirements. The tools that have been selected for the guideline shall help to visualize how educators can use IMS-LD compliant technology to go through all the steps of the described process model. Thus, this guideline will help educators to better understand the entire IMS-LD design, delivery, and reuse process chain, and in this way contribute to a wider application and uptake of IMS-LD.